[May 23, 2014]LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With J.J.
Abrams kicking off the first of three new "Star Wars" films, Disney
announced on Thursday that "Godzilla" filmmaker Gareth Edwards will
direct a separate spin-off installment of the franchise, scheduled for
December 2016.

The yet-to-be-titled "Star Wars" film, which is being written
by "The Book of Eli" screenwriter Gary Whitta, is being
described as a stand-alone movie in addition to the next three
installments beginning with Abrams's "Star Wars: Episode VII,"
to be released in December 2015.

British director Edwards made his feature film debut with his
re-imagining of "Godzilla," which stormed the North American box
office with $93.2 million in sales over the past weekend.

Walt Disney Co purchased "Star Wars" creator George Lucas's
production company LucasFilm for $4.05 billion in 2012 and
announced it would release spin-off films between the releases
of three new films in the popular sci-fi series.